The light within the darkness
by Leon'ideos
Summary: Nene is the Queen of the ninja's but does not have a king, her friend begging for help her trusty ninja leads her to one man the Phantom ninja Hanzo Hattori
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Nene was bored, very bored. She was sitting in her chair while listing to a suitor for her hand brag about how great it was to marry someone like himself, how rich she would be, how it would benefit both their lands and how he will make her happy for all eternity ,she had heard enough of his bickering she raised her hand for him to stop talking "thank you for your offer but I will have to say no thank you to your hand in marriage" Nene said in a bored tone being a single queen of ninja's was not easy, "but milady I can make you very happy and give you a lot of beautiful children" the man begged "I said no! Kunoichi remove him at once" Nene ordered as her best ninja removed the man from the room, the man kicking and screaming for Nene to change her mind 'as if I would ever marry the likes of a spoilt brat like him' she thought as she got up to leave as soon as she turned her back she heard the doors open "for the last time I said no" she screamed her eyes were closed so she looked a bit childish doing so but she still had no idea who it was "is this how you treat your guests nowadays?" a voice asked as Nene opened her eyes to see a very old friend of hers "Yukimura?" she gasped "in the flesh" Yukimura replied as the two men behind him smiled noticed this and asked "oh sorry but who are you two?" as soon as she asked that two arms wrapped around the two strangers strangling them "Yukimura… help" one managed to gasp out as Yukimura heard chuckling from the nearby shadows "show yourself" Yukimura shouted as a figure stepped out of the shadows his arms connected to Yukimura's comrades "Kotarò put them down please" Nene asked as Kotarò only nodded as he released his captives "cough why didn't you seal the arms Kanetsugu?" asked the smaller one of the trio "because I did not see it coming Ranmaru" the now named Kanetsugu replied as he and Ranmaru stood up "well Ranmaru, Kanetsugu welcome to my kingdom" Nene said with a happy smile on her face "you never change do you Lady Nene" Kotarò said darkly as he stepped back into the shadows "come let us have dinner" Nene said as they went to the royal dining hall.

At the dinner table Nene's only samurai warriors MItsunari, Masonori and Kiyomasa introduced themselves and the everyday royal feast began like normal Masonori stuffing his face and MItsunari telling him off about it Kiyomasa was having a very interesting talk with Ranmaru and Kanetsugu while Yukimura and Nene were talking about the current war "so I suppose you came here to tell me this and not just to see me" Nene asked as she sunk into her chair at the end of the table "yes I apologize for only coming to see you to tell you such news but my clan really needs your help" Yukimura said with a look of hope in his eye "look as much as I want to help you Yukimura I can't we are one man short" Nene said as Yukimura's looked down in disappointment "but Lady Nene we may have one option" Kotarò chuckled as he stepped out of the shadow's making Ranmaru choke on his drink "and what would that be Kotarò?" Nene asked as he sparked her interest" an old friend of mine, a fellow ninja who served the Daimyo till he died" Kotarò said "what's their name?" Nene asked taking the words out of everyone's mouths "Hanzò Hattori" Kotarò said as everyone gasped.


	2. Chapter 2

Nene could not believe what she just heard, Kotarò, her oldest ninja under her command knew the legendary phantom ninja Hanzò Hattori, then again neither could anyone else in the room, Masonori inhaled a bone and was now choking on it hitting his chest to try and get the bone unstuck and out of his body and Kotarò was being Kotarò, "tell me Kotarò how do you know this legendary Hanzò?" Ranmaru asked not knowing who they were referring to "shut your mouth boy to not say his name so casually" Mitsunari snapped but all he got was the blunt side of Kiyomasa's scythe to the head "oww" Mitsunari exclaimed rubbing his head Nene ignored this and looked to Kotarò then to Yukimura "you two my chambers if you'd please excuse us Kiyomasa" Nene said politely as she stood up "of course mother" Kiyomasa said respectably to his adoptive mother as he to stood up the bowed to her out of respect and she bowed back, then Nene, Yukimura and Kotarò left to Nene's bedroom.

In the land to the east sat a man in his castle, he looked down at the trembling man before him, rage and disgust were clearly seen in his eyes "what do you mean she refused!" he roared "I am sorry Lord Motochika but she just told her best ninja to remove me and I could not hold the disguise up any longer" the man cried as Motochika sat and thought his hand on his chin in a thinking position 'if I don't marry Nene before Hideyoshi or Ieyasu I will not be Lord Nobunaga's heir' Motochika thought as a messenger barged in shouting "my lord, Lord Hideyoshi is making his way to the kingdom of the south" at this news Motochika fumed "get me my horse at once" Motochika yelled as the peasant before him jumped to his feet and ran to the stables in fear 'if that bastard Hideyoshi is going that means Lord Nobunaga sent him, this is not good I must speak with Lord Nobunaga about this so I and I alone can be his heir to the throne of the kingdom of the east' Motochika thought as he readied his strategy to convince Nobunaga to give him Nene. 

Back in the Land of the South Nene was listing to Kotarò's story of how he and Hanzò followed the Daimyo during the _Old Days_ As Kotarò called it, by the way Kotarò described it, it sounded like Hanzò was her age, 25 Nene could not help but ask "um Kotarò how old is Hanzò?"

"hmmm I would say 25? 26? Most likely 25 though milady" Kotarò said his hand on his chin showing he was thinking, at this Nene nearly fainted, the war started 15 years ago that would mean that Hanzò served the Daimyo as his best Ninja at the age of 10! "So that would be our only option to recruit this Hanzò?" Yukimura asked Kotarò taking Nene out of her trance "yes…" was his reply "ok then when do we head out?" Nene asked Yukimura "tonight would be the best logical time" Yukimura answered "it would be unwise for us to travel in a group bigger or smaller than three" Kotarò cut in "oh and why is that?" Yukimura asked "Hanzò has a saying: one is not enough, two is ok, and three is the number I trust" Kotarò explained "ok then Kotarò, Yukimura and I will be heading out at dusk I leave Mitsunari in charge is that understood?" Nene asked the maid to her right as she nodded and replied with a 'yes milady' as the two ninja's and one samurai went to their respected rooms to prepare for the long trip.

In the east kingdom again sat Lord Nobunaga of the east, before him was three of his four best generals Ieyasu, Mitsuhide and Motochika "milord I am here to tell you that Hideyoshi is trying to steal my bride" Motochika exclaimed "oh and who would that be?" Ieyasu asked "lady Nene of the south" Motochika answered, at this the other two in the room laughed "last time I heard she rejected you" Mitsuhide laughed "well she did but I will have her not Hideyoshi" Motochika yelled shaking a clenched fist as the other two kept on laughing, Nobunaga's anger reached boiling point "ENOUGH" he yelled as the three stopped and settled down and knelt back on their respecter cushions, a blue on for Motochika, a grey one for Ieyasu, a purple on for Mitsuhide and an orange one for Hideyoshi which was currently empty "so what you are trying to tell me is that I should stop Hideyoshi from marrying this Nene of the south even though she has rejected you how many times?" Nobunaga asked "20" Motochika sighed "20 you say before you said she rejected you once are you lying to me?" Nobunaga asked as the room started to fill up with killer intent "n...n...No Lord Nobunaga I am not lying to you" Motochika stuttered "good don't let me catch you lying or I ill skin you alive is that understood by all of you" Nobunaga asked as the three nodded their heads "good now about Nene, no I will not stop Hideyoshi because I was the one who told him to try and marry her" Nobunaga said his eyes closed "but why would you do that lord Nobunaga? If you will just give me more time Nene would have been Mine... I mean ours milord" Motochika said as he stood up from his cushion "are you arguing with him Motochika?" Mitsuhide asked "no I am not Mitsuhide so shut up" Motochika yelled "enough I am not stoping Hideyoshi from trying to get Nene and that is final now dismissed" Nobunaga ordered as Motochika stormed off back to his part of the land and Ieyasu and Mitsuhide bowed in respect and they too left for their respected parts of the land.

When they were all gone Nobunaga sighed "what am I going to do with Motochika" HE asked himself he turned to the corner "what do you think Oichi?" Nobunaga asked his sister who emerged from the corner "I think you should just give him some time to think brother" Oichi spoke as Nobunaga nodded acknowledging that his sister was right and that he will give Motochika some time to clear his thoughts "well on the plus side dinner is ready and Lady Nò has given us the honour of cooking it again tonight" at this Nobunaga laughed his sister could always cheer him up no matter what mood he was in with that innocent personality she had, he stood from his chair stretched out his back and followed Oichi to the dining hall where his beloved wife was waiting with their dinner.

It was dusk, Kotarò and Yukimura were waiting for Nene to come to the gate while they were having a conversation "evening" they both turned to see Nene walk up to them "ready?" Yukimura asked Nene nodded and Kotarò well he was just being him "well then let's go" Yukimura said as the three started their journey to find Hanzò Hattori the Phantom Ninja.

In an unknown location in a small wooden hut sat a man by a fire, his eyes closed, his long black hair relaxing on his shoulders, he heard a creek and he opened his eyes to see the fire in front of him, it gave a little spark, the man grunted at this "it's time huh" he said to no one in particular as he grabbed a bucket of water next to his chair and tossed the water into the fire extinguishing it with a hiss, once the fire was out the man put down the bucket and retired for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Nene sighed again showing Yukimura and Kotarò that she was bored again 'she does not have a very big attention span' Kotarò thought, 'again?' Yukimura thought but quickly erased it from his memory as the three now traveled through the shadow forest where Hanzò was supposedly spotted and in a way Yukimura could understand why Hanzò would like to live in a place like this it was quite and secluded perfect for a ninja to live out his life in peace not to mention this fog was almost making it impossible to see where they were going so they had to keep their wits about them.

The group was setting up camp for the night when a faint noise made its way through the dense forest "a flute?" Nene though aloud as the three charged through the dense woods towards the origin of the noise the stopped to see a clearing and a lone figure dressed in a midnight purple kimono playing a flute, they also saw a flock of birds matching the sound of the wooden instrument, Nene being as curios as she is began to move towards the figure to see if he was the man they were looking for "my lady that would not be wise" Kotarò warned for only it to befall deaf ears as Nene moved closer, Nene kept moving until she was 10 feet away from the man she noticed the man's eyes were closed she was about to keep going when she felt a breeze reach her chest but it stopped as she felt Kotarò's huge travel cloak cover her "um Kotarò why did you do that?" Nene asked "look at your attire" was her simple answer she looked down to see her ninja attire shredded leaving only Kotarò's cloak to protect her dignity Nene looked up in shock to see the man now standing in front of them "Kotarò it's been a long time" he said his voice sliced through the air "it has old friend" Kotarò replied "so I take it you are Hanzò Hattori?" Yukimura asked and the now named Hanzò nodded "well then down to business I need you to join my ninja army" Nene asked "no" was Hanzò's reply as he started to leave but he soon found out that he was being followed by the trio "what do you want" he asked "you owe me" Nene said as Hanzò turned around to see Nene pointing to her chest "ok I will repair your getup but I will need to know you better to join your army come you can stay at my place" Hanzò said as the three started to follow until Hanzò stopped and pointed to Yukimura "but he cannot" he said "but why?" Nene asked "he has had a bad past with samurai" Kotarò whispered as Nene nodded and turned to Yukimura "head back and tell Mitsunari our progress" Yukimura did not bother to argue and left to go back to Nene's land "now then happy?" Nene asked and Hanzò nodded as the three made their way to Hanzò's home.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi was waiting for the lord of the castle to have an audience with him he was imagining what this queen Nene looked like and could not wait for her to marry him the doors opened to reveal Masanori "the lord will see you now" he grunted as Hideyoshi walked into the throne room to see Mitsunari sitting in the king's throne "welcome" he greeted "how may I help you?" "I have come to ask for the hand of Lady Nene" Hideyoshi said bowing onto one knee "well unfortunately Lady Nene is absent as of this time so do you mind waiting until she returns?" Mitsunari asked and Hideyoshi nodded "Kiyomasa please show this gentlemen to his room" Mitsunari told his fellow general who nodded and showed Hideyoshi to his room.

Hanzò's house on the outside was nothing to write home about but on the inside it was like a small castle 3 bedrooms and a master bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a lounge room, a library, a dojo and a kitchen Nene looked to Kotarò who said "sorcery" and then she understood "make yourselves at home" Hanzò said gently placing his flute on the mantel piece and taking off his mask only to replace it with another one Nene swore to herself that she would see Hanzò's face as she saw his retreat into the kitchen to prepare dinner. At first Nene was unsure about Hanzò but after dinner the only thought that came to was 'man he can cook' Hanzò served up a rabbit stew for entrée, a roast chicken for main and a blueberry pie for desert "where did you get the ingredients?" Nene asked "I have a small farm out back" Now Nene heard it all this guy was a ninja, a chef and a gardener? He knows how to look after himself as she saw him pour a cup of tea she had never seen before "drink it's helps smoothen your skin" he said and Nene could only nod as she took a sip the explosion of different herbs in the tea was delicious she already saw Kotarò ask for seconds and Kotarò hates tea! "Well I do not know about you but I am tired stay up as long as you want" Hanzò said as he retired to the master bedroom "well what did I tell ya he's our guy" Kotarò told Nene but Nene could only ask one thing "is he single?" at this Kotarò chuckled "yes he is just want to say this beforehand good luck he is not easy to win over" Kotarò smiled as he saw the look of determination on Nene's face "well goodnight" Kotarò said heading to his elicited room leaving Nene to sit and think of how to win Hanzò over before she herself retired for the evening leaving only darkness in her wake.


End file.
